Legal Question in Employment Law in Washington

Job offer rescinded, caused loss of other job

At first I was offered a job from employer ''A'' and accepted the offer, but told them that I had a couple more interviews. I then interviewed with company ''B''. The interview went very well. I stated at the end of the interview that I had an offer from company ''A'' and planned to start if I didn't get an offer from company ''B''. I was offered a job from company ''B'' 2 days later on the phone from my recruiter. I accepted the offer. Because of the offer I contacted company ''A'' and politely let them know I was accepting the offer from company ''B'' due to career interests and pay. I went to company ''B'' and signed an employment agreement to report for work for a 1 year contract on 6/11/07. On 6/7/07 I was told by company ''B'' they could no longer offer the job due to budget cuts. I was very distraught, and immediately called back company ''A'' to beg for the offer back. They said someone else had filled the position at company ''A''. Do I have any legal recourse due to the misleading ''offer'' of employment which required me to turn down a job I already had lined up? I do have the employment agreement from company ''B'' which states my start date and client company name and address, as well as all the paperwork (W-4, etc).

Thank you!


Asked on 6/12/07, 3:52 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Susan Beecher Susan L. Beecher, Atty at Law

Re: Job offer rescinded, caused loss of other job

Everything depends on precisely what that employment agreement says. Without the agreement, you are out of luck, because employment in Washington State (and in 48 other states, I understand) is "at will". The employer can terminate you at any time for any reason (so long as it is not an illegal reason, which does not appear to apply here), including before your job even starts.

Without seeing the agreement, I cannot comment on whether you have recourse or not. It is hard to believe that the employer would not include an "out" for themselves, and often these pesky clauses do not jump out at the reader.

Have an attorney look at the contract to advise you of your rights. Don't waste time with the W-4s etc. If the contract doesn't help you, the rest won't either.

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Answered on 6/12/07, 11:41 am


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